The description of 'it's like BotW but with the combat removed' seems to me a brokerage of the funds that we seem to take as an objective, inset currency in gaming without considering their confluence unnatural with the more intrinsically simulating mechanics broadly seen in games generally but open-world games specifically; why, with this understood by a mere moment's consideration, do we not call BotW Sable with combat added? Or Sable an open world exploration game and BotW an open world arcade game? The purity that is so often ascribed to Shigeru Miyamoto's transliteration of his adventuring as a child into the Zelda ethos is not critically understood as an impure alchemy when mixed with the necessary element of a combat loop to insure larger audience appeal by creating further petits win-states (or petits états de mort for the satisfaction angle if you prefer) to firmly emburden a tight gameplay loop. Now, BotW is probably a better game in my opinion than Sable, but I dislike the comparison of Sable as one of those '_______ but _______' games because it disengages with the critical element the community of critics and creators of other mediums have established as forms of representation and innervation in the engagement context we create with our art forms: that each climatological shift in a form is because of a new viewpoint observed by a style - so Sable being a combatless BotW is kind of frusturating, I guess.

It's interesting to look at, I'll grant. I spent a lot of time adjusting the visual settings and I still can't decide if I prefer 60 fps (easier controlling but makes the low animation framerate strange) or 30 fps (more unified presentation).

But what really killed my mojo is the floaty, weightless hoverbike. Boy if that thing had some serious speed, real jumping power, and landing ooomph, I'd still be playing this game. But it bobs across the desert like a bath toy.

And there's no danger. I know it's part of the pitch (a casual Breath-alike), but what makes Breath of the Wild and Subnautica work is not knowing what's around the corner, and especially whether it can hurt you or not. If you already know the entire world is toothless, what's the difference between home base and the furthest reaches other than the sights?

A refreshing and unique survival horror experiment that actively rejects the typical aesthetic trappings of the genre (grimy, dim locales of Texas Chainsaw-style dilapidation) and explores the potential for fright in brightly lit spaces of immense opulence and grandeur. Very intelligently makes the best of its limited budget and scope by utilizing repeating assets and cloned character models as a means to instill a chilling and uncanny atmosphere that comes across as intentional rather than lazy. The Palace is a stunning sci-fi location filled with eerie details, and the occasional hinting at the broader lore of this world is very cool. The central gameplay gimmick where "enemies learn every action you perform and utilize them against you" is a fantastic idea and makes for some stressful problem solving, but the gameplay doesn't really develop much after the initial hour or so and definitely could have pushed the concept further. However, the game's short length (about 3-4 hours) makes sure it never outstays its welcome. This is a very striking and unique debut. It's a shame that Ultra Ultra had to shut its doors soon after release, because I would have loved to see what else this team had to say as they developed their concepts further. The procedural soundtrack of warm but eerily synthetic strings is excellent too!

Apparently there's a movie in the works? I really don't forsee that being great.

𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐨𝐧
#𝟏𝟒 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐲 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐩𝐚!

You never appreciate good sound design until you hear one of the most disgusting grabbing sounds known to humanity, a sound so wet and foul the mere thought of it makes my stomach churn.

I haven’t played or even heard of most of Yame’s other work until I played this, and the only reason I even played this was from a blind recommendation from a friend and seeing Markiplier play a little bit of it. Now that I’ve finished what is honestly a very short game I can say that it sure was a grotesque horrible experience, and I mean that in a good way.

The reason why I’d categorize this as one of those “experience” games is because once you finish the game there's really no reason to ever replay the game, and it’s core gameplay loop is not really all that engaging; you pretty much just pick up trash in the same 4 or 5 spots and collect items to do the same objectives for 5 nights. It’s not the most engaging game I’ve ever played but for what the game lacks in a fulfilling gameplay loop it makes up for it with an immaculate sense of atmosphere.
The game itself has that low poly look with a grimy crusty pixelated filter coated on so everything looks so crusty it’s hard to get a good grasp on what your even looking at, add in the lowpoly models and some impressive body horror for Grandpa’s growing phases and it creates such an uncomfortable and off putting environment that some of the best horror game’s wish they could create. The body horror is what really sells the game for me thought, watching all of grandpa's growing phases go from barely conceivable lumps of wet and riving flesh to a somewhat human looking figure that still looks too monstrous to be but human. The sound Grandpa makes is even more unsettling, since for most of the game grandpa hasn’t grown its own tongue, lungs or lips so whenever you try to each grandpa's words they either come out as raspy cries or wet incomprehensible throat noises. Any interaction with Grandpa is truly unsettling but when you can have full on conversations with Grandpa is when it gets so unnerving I had to take a 5 minute break because I was having a mini panic attack.

I don’t think this is the scariest game I’ve ever played or hell even the scariest game I’ve played for this marathon, more so it gave me the same feeling that FNAF gave me when I first played it, a horrifying rush of anxiety that caused me to question everything around me and worry much more than I should’ve. But even if I don’t really think the game itself is scary I can’t deny the genius artistry on display here, I’d say it’s worth it just for that first playthrough even if the core gameplay leaves a little to be desired.